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Frontispiece — The Foolish Fox 

‘“HE IS \ DISGRACE TO THE FOXES ’ ” 


See pag e 82 














ALTEMUS’ 


WEE BOOKS FOR WEE FOLKS 


The Foolish Fox 


With Twenty-Two Illustrations 

BY 

JOHN REA NEILL 


PHILADELPHIA 

HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY 




LlBS/M?YofOOIV6RlsSj 
TW« Copies Received 

SEP 2 1904 

Copy right Entry 


ILASS 

7 b 


C - XXo. No. 

A 9J- 

CfcfY 


Sf 


/Z-3Z2ff 




.Alt emu s' 


Illustrated 

Wee Books for Wee Folks 

Nursery Tales 

Nursery Rhymes 

The Story of Peter Rabbit 

The Foolish Fox 

Three Little Pigs 

The Robber Kitten 


Daintily , yet durably bound in full Cloth , 
and profusely illustrated, jo cents each 


Copyright, 1904 

By He nry Alt emus 





















CHAPTER I page 

The Wood Where the Sun Sets . . .15 

CHAPTER II 

The Tun Where the Rain is Kept . . 25 

CHAPTER III 

The Mill Where the Snow is Ground . . 36 

CHAPTER IV 

The Bellows Where the Wind is Blown . 47 

CHAPTER V 

The Kettle Where the Mud is Boiled . . 55 

CHAPTER VI 

Eves, Ears, Teeth and Tail ... 65 

CHAPTER VII 

The Disgrace to the Foxes . . . .75 

CHAPTER VIII 

The King of Fourlegs .84 


IX 









‘ He is a Disgrace to the Foxes’ ” Frontispiece 
The Lion Standing at His Castle Gate” . 

‘ Put Him in Prison Directly’ ” • 

' They Ordered the Finest Clothes ” . 

: ‘ Throw Him into the Tub’ ” 

‘ Inside the Mill Sat Bruin the Bear 
‘ ‘ Grind Him Up With the Next Sack 
‘ Off They Went to the Geese ” . 

‘ He Had to Sweep With a Long Birchbroom ” 

‘ Away He Hobbled ” . 

“ Gravnose Looking Out of the Window 


19 


.»o 

39 

45 

49 


xi 




















ILLUSTRATIONS 


xii 

PAUK 

“ Headforemost, into the Hole ” . - < .61 
“ OVhat Have You Lost?’ ” 67 

“ He Ran Straight Away Home ” . . 73 

“ 1 You’ll Do For Me ’ M ...... 81 

“ The Good Old Lion Died ” . . 87 


“ Redlegs Was Elected ” 


91 


THE FOOLISH FOX 






4 












♦ 




















































THE FOOLISH FOX 


CHAPTER I 

THE WOOD WHERE THE SUN SETS 

O NCE upon a time there lived 
in the Land of Fourlegs a 
gray old Fox who had a 
large family and a hard heart. He 
had little enough to eat, and did 
not wish to share it with his four¬ 
teen children, so he turned the 
whole tribe out of doors, and told 
them to go and get their own liv¬ 
ing the best way they could. 


16 THE FOOLISH FOX 

Now these fourteen Foxes were 
sharp set for a good meal of vic¬ 
tuals, and, what is more, they did 
not know where to look for one; 
but— 

“Come along,” said Sharpnose, 
the youngest of the family; “as 
we are all thieves, let us go to the 
Lion—he has most to lose.” 

“ Very well,” said the twelve, all 
in a breath; but Redlegs, the eld¬ 
est, was a fool, so he said nothing. 

Off they trudged to find the 
Lion, and many a mile they had to 
go ; but on they walked, and on 
and on, all the day long, till they 
were very tired and dusty, as you 


i7 


THE FOOLISH FOX 

may suppose. They walked on 
and on, till they reached 

The wood where the sun sets , 

and there they found the Lion’s 
castle, and the Lion standing at his 
' castle gate. As you must know, 
the Lion is King in the Land of 
Fourlegs, and there he stood with 
his paws behind him, on the look¬ 
out for good men and true. 

“Hullo!” he grumbled, not 
over pleased. “You look dusty 
enough. Pray where have you 
come from?” 

“ From the other end of the 
world, where the gold grows,” said 


The Foolish Fox 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


18 


Sharpnose, “ and we are all very 
tired and hungry.” 

“ We are all very tired and 
hungry,” groaned the twelve at 
once ; but Redlegs, he said noth¬ 
ing. 

“ Are you honest men and 
true?" said the Lion. 

“As true as true,” said Sharp- 
nose and his twelve brothers. 

“And what are you?” said the 
Lion of the eldest. 

“ Oh, I am a thief,” said Red- 
legs. 

“Then I must look after you,” 
said the Lion. 

So he took the thirteen boxes in 


tiie 


FOOLISH FOX 


19 





























20 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


and gave them a good supper of 
roast goose; and after that a nice 
swan’s-down bed to lie on. 

“ But as for you,” said the Lion 
to Redlegs, when he came out to 
him after sunset, and found him 
shivering in the cold, “as for you, 
whom I have to look after, go off 
and clean the pigsties directly, that 
you may not be idle.” 

The next morning, before break¬ 
fast time, he called on the thirteen 
Foxes and set them to watch his 
great money-box, in which he al¬ 
ways kept his gold—for the Lion 
was very rich, you must know, and 
had a great deal to lose. Now 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


21 


when, a day or two after, the Lion 
went in state to see his old friend 
Bruin the Bear, he took all his 
servants with him—all except the 
fourteen Foxes: thirteen he left 
guarding the gold in his great 
money-box, and the fourteenth just 
finishing off the pigsties. 

As soon as King Lion with all 
his servants were fairly out of 
sight, said Sharpnose : 

“ I say, let us steal all this gold 
out of the great money-box, and 
bury it in the wood in case we 
should want to travel. King Lion 
is sure not to suspect us—he 
thinks we arc honest and true.” 


22 THE FOOLISH FOX 

So they stole all the Lion’s gold 
(except one bit, which they left for 
luck at the bottom of the great 
money-box), and buried it in 

The wood where the sun sets. 

Back came the Lion with all his 
servants, and he soon found out 
that his gold was gone, I can tell 
you. So he called the fourteen 
Foxes at once, that he might 
know who amongst them had 
stolen it; and when they came 
he stood them all in a row before 
him. 

“Are you honest and true?" 
asked the Lion. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


2 3 



“As true as true,” replied Sharp- 
nose. 

“As true as true,” said twelve 
of his brothers. 

“And what are you ?” asked the 
Lion of Redlegs. 

“ Oh, I am a thief,” said he. 

“Ah ! so you told me before. I 












24 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


must look after you,” growled the 
Lion in a great rage. “ Put him 
in prison directly, and cut his right 1 
ear off.” 

Well, they put him in prison for 
ever so long, and cut his right ear 
off; but Sharpnose and the other 
twelve were kept to guard the one 
bit of gold, till such time as the 
Lion could get some more—which 
was not very long, as you may 
suppose. 


CHAPTER II 


THE TUB WHERE THE RAIN IS KEPT 

B UT after a while, when these 
young Foxes wanted to see 
the world, they came to the 
Lion. “ King Lion,” said they, 
“ pray give us leave to travel : we 
will be sure to come back again 
some day.” 

“If you are sure you will come 
back again,” said the Lion, “you 
may go ; but I wish you would 
take that brother of yours with 
you.” 


2 5 


26 


TIIE FOOLISH FOX 


They did not mind, so Redlegs 
was released, and off they went 
together. Of course, they dug up 
the Lion’s gold, and with it they 
bought all the nice things they 
could think of, as soon as they 
came to the first town on the road. 
They went to the tailor’s and or¬ 
dered the finest clothes, to the 
hatter’s for the small caps with the 
longest feathers, and then, to be 
smartest of the smart, they called 
on the bootmaker and were meas¬ 
ured for the tightest boots ever 
worn. 

They put up at the best inn in 
the town ; they feasted on roast 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


27 



goose every day, and drank the 
best of wine ; they slept in the best 
bed. Yet, withal, they made Red- 
legs their servant, and starved him 
into the bargain ; they fed him 
upon rinds and parings, and odds 
and ends, and gave him all the 
dirty work to do. 










28 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


But one fine morning, the Foxes 
found that they had spent all their 
gold. 

“ Turn out,” said the landlord of 
their inn ; “we’ll have no beggars 
here.” And out he turned them. 

So, without house and home, 
they began to get hungry again. 
Where to get a good meal, none 
of them knew. 

“ Come along,” said Sharpnose, 
“ let us call on Old Keeper the 
Dog. He has plenty of sheep— 
perhaps we may eat some.” 

“Yes, we must eat some,” said 
the twelve ; but Redlegs, he said 
nothing. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


29 


Off they tramped to the Dog’s 
house, and a very long way they 
found it. They walked and walked, 
and it rained very fast; but they 
walked and walked all the day 
long. Wet to the skin, and as tired 
as could be, they came to 

The tub where the rain is kept , 

and the . Dog’s house was there. 
They found Old Keeper with his 
crook in his hand, looking very 
surly, and minding his sheep. 

“Hullo,” said he; “and pray, 
where do you come from ?” 

“We come from the other end of 
the world where the Sheep grow,” 


30 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


said Sharpnose, “ and we are tired 
and hungry.” 

“ Tired and hungry,” sighed the 
twelve ; but Redlegs, he said noth¬ 
ing. 

“What do you eat?” asked Old 
Keeper. 

“ Turnip-tops,’’ said Sharpnose. 

“ Turnip-tops,” said the twelve 
in a breath. 

“And what do you eat?" asked 
the Dog of the eldest Fox. 

“Well, I eat sheep,” said Red- 
legs. 

“ Oh, indeed 1” sneered the Doer 

o* 

“Then I must look after you.” • 

He took them in, he gave them 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


3 i 


all a good supper, and the next 
morning set Sharpnose and the 
twelve to mind the sheep, but Red- 
legs to cook the dinner, lest he 
should get into mischief. 

However, a day or two after, the 
Dog had to take a flock of sheep to 
market. Off he went at break of 
day, so that he might be all in good 
time, leaving no one at home to 
see after the place but the fourteen 
Foxes. Thirteen were minding the 
sheep, while Redlegs was scouring 
out the saucepan. 

As soon as Old Keeper the Dog 
was out of sight, said Sharpnose to 
the twelve : 


32 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


“ Let us eat up all the sheep, and 
then go to bed. The Dog will not 
think it is us, for he knows that we 
only like turnip-tops.” 

So the thirteen Foxes killed all 
the sheep but one ; and, what is 
more, they ate up all they had 
killed. 

They picked every bone but one, 
and that—which was a very lean 
shank-bon'e—they threw to poor 
Redlegs, just to keep him quiet 
while they went to sleep, and all 
the thirteen trotted off to bed di¬ 
rectly. 

But by-and-by night came, and 
the old Dog returned. When he 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


33 


looked round, he found them all 
snoring but Redlegs. 

“Where are my sheep ?” he cried. 

But nobody knew anything about 
them. 

“I will soon find outr barked 
the Dog in a great passion. “Come 
here, you fourteen Foxes, Now, 
what have you been eating ? Tell 
me at once.” 

“We have had nothing but tur¬ 
nip-tops,” said Sharpnose and 
those other twelve story-tellers, his 
brothers. 

But when Old Keeper the Dog 
turned round to see what Redlegs 
had been eating, he cast his eye 

3—The Foolish Fox 


34 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


on the shank-bone, which Redlegs 
had never even thought of eating. 

“Oh, oh!” barked the Dog. 
“That is the way my sheep have 
gone, is it ? Here, you other dogs, 
throw him into the tub where the 
rain is kept. He has lost one ear, 
so cut off the other directly!” 

Poor Redlegs cried out in a loud 
voice that he had never touched 
the sheep, but, as they did not be¬ 
lieve him, he might just as well 
have held his tongue, for they 
carried him off, and 

They blew him with a south wind ’ 
They blew him with a north wind , 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


35 



They blew him with an east wind\ 
They blew him with a west wind\ 

and they blew both his eyes out! 






CHAPTER III 


THE MILL WHERE THE SNOW IS 
GROUND 

T HEY cut off His other ear at 
a blow, and then threw him 
into 

The tub where the rain is kept . 

It was a great wonder he was 
not drowned, but somehow, after 
awhile, he managed to crawl out, 
all dripping with wet, just in time 
to meet his thirteen brothers, who 
were off again to see the world. 

3 6 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


37 


“Come along,” said Sharpnose. 
“ Let us go and see Bruin the 
Bear, he has plenty of good things 
for those who will work for him.” 

So away they went to see Bruin 
the Bear. He lived at the cold 
end of Fourlegs, so they had to 
walk very quickly indeed ; but on 
they went, until it began to snow ; 
on and on they marched, getting 
colder and colder, till, behold ! 
they came at last to 

The mill where the snow is ground. 

Of course the door was shut, but 
Sharpnose soon pulled up the latch, 
and in they went, one after another, 


38 THE FOOLISH FOX 

Redlegs—who was last—not for¬ 
getting to shut the door after him. 

Inside the mill sat Bruin the 
Bear. 

“ Hullo!” grumbled Bruin. “You 
nipped-up things of Foxes, where 
do you come from?” 

From the other end of the world 
where the snow melts,” said Sharp- 
nose. 

“ And we are so cold and 
hungry,” chattered the thirteen all 
together ; but Redlegs said not a 
word. 

“ What can you grind ?” said the 
Bear. 

“ Everything,” replied Sharp- 


V 


THE FOOLISH FOX 39 
















40 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


nose; and “ Everything," said his 
twelve brothers. 

“And pray, what can you 
grind ?’’ asked Bruin the Bear of 
Redlegs. 

“ Nothing,” he answered, for this 
Fox had never ground anything in 
all his life, nor, for that matter, had 
his brothers. 

“ Oh !” grumbled the Bear, “you 
are the lazy one, are you ? I must 
look after you.” 

Then the grizzly old Bear took 
pity on them, and gave them each 
some supper, and a bed each to lie 
down upon. But the next day he 
set them to work grinding. It was 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


4i 


very hard work, and none of them 
liked it, but the old fellow kept 
them all to it, and laughed to him¬ 
self when he saw how fast his snow 
was ground. 

“ I am going out,’’ said he, “ to 
call on my friend the Lion, so I 
shall give you plenty to grind while 
I am away. And as for you,” he 
growled, turning sharply round to 
Redlegs, “ I shall give you double 
work.” 

So, before he went out, he set 
them each a task. To each of the 
thirteen he gave one sack of snow 
to grind, but to Redlegs he meas¬ 
ured out two. 


42 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


No sooner was the Bear gone 
than Sharpnose and his brothers 
left off grinding. They hated hard 
work, and were at their wits’ end 
to know how to leave their snow 
unground, nor do I think they 
would have hit upon any plan if it 
had not been for the clever Sharp- 
nose ; but, said he : 

“ Let us all go fast asleep while 
Redlegs grinds all the snow—he is 
the eldest.” 

He was the eldest, and, luckily 
for them, he was the strongest. 
So they told him to do all the 
work, and to it he went. He had 
not fairly begun to grind his fifteen 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


43 


sacks before his brothers lay them 
down, and went off sound asleep. 
But poor Redlegs ground on all 
the same, and sack after sack of his 
snow dropped through the hoppers 
of the mill, until he had finished 
thirteen sacks, and then he could 
not go on any more. He felt so 
tired that he sat down to rest, and, 
as he sat down, he fell asleep. 

At that moment, Sharpnose and 
the twelve started up, for they 
heard the Bear growling at the 
door, and as they were rubbing 
the dust out of their eyes in he 
came. 

“ I say, you Foxes,” he grum- 


44 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


bled, “what have you been doing 
all the day ?” 

“Grinding,” said Sharpnose. 

“We have been grinding,” 
echoed the twelve all in a breath. 

“ Well, and what have you been 
doing, Master Redlegs ?” he asked, 
turning round to the eldest. 

“ Sn-r-r-rr !” answered Redlegs, 
snoring through his nose. 

Now, when old Bruin heard this 
reply, he felt sure that Redlegs 
had been asleep all day, and when 
he caught sight of the two un¬ 
ground sacks of snow he was so 
angry that he growled out: 

“Grind him up with the next 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


45 



/ 


“‘GRIM) HIM UP WITH THE NEXT SAUK 


» * > 



















46 THE FOOLISH FOX 


sack!” And then, remembering 
of a sudden that he himself had 
no tail, he added, “And off with 
his tail directly!” 


CHAPTER IV 


THE BELLOWS WHERE THE WIND IS 


BLOWN 


HEY cut his tail off short, and 



1 that woke him up, as you 
may suppose, but after that 
they shoved him into the hopper 
with the next sack of snow, and 
ground he would have been had 
not one of the stones been rather 
loose. But that gave him a 
chance. So he slipped through 
with many a bruise, and came out 
hobbling and limping, just as his 


47 


48 THE FOOLISH FOX 


brothers had started off to see a 
little more of the world. 

They were all of them in a high 
glee at having had the best of the 
Bear, and— 

“Come along,” said Sharpnose. 
“ Let us be off and find the Geese. 
As we are so fond of them, maybe 
they will be glad to see us.” 

The twelve agreed, but, of 
course, Redlegs said nothing. 

Off they went to the Geese. All 
day long they trotted ; the wind 
blew its hardest, but they only 
trotted a little faster, for it blew in 
their faces, it blew down their 
backs, it blew them sideways, and 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


49 



then all round ; but on they trot¬ 
ted till night drew in, and then all 
of a sudden they came upon 

The bellows where the wind is 
blown , 

and there they found Goose Green. 
If you could have only seen how 

4 — The Foolish Fox 





5° 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


old Daddy Gander stared when he 
first caught sight of the fourteen 
Foxes, you would never have for¬ 
gotten it in all the days of your life. 

“ I say, Fourlegs !” called out 
Daddy at last in a great fluster, 
“ I say, Fourlegs, where do you 
come from?” 

“From the other end of the 
world,” replied Sharpnose, “where 
the wind is buried.” 

“Wind is buried,” echoed the 
twelve in a breath ; but Redlegs 
said not a word. 

“What tongue do you speak?” 
asked the Gander, wishing to try 
them. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


5i 


“Goose!" answered thirteen. 

“And what do you speak, Four- 
legs?” inquired Daddy of the eld¬ 
est. 

“ I speak Fox," replied Redlegs. 

“ Oh ! you do, do you ? Then 
we must look after you.” Still, he 
took them all in, and gave them a 
good supper, and a nice soft bed 
each to lie upon. 

Now in Goose Green, which is a 
very large place on the borders of 
Fourlegs, there were flocks upon 
flocks of Geese ; yet,'many as they 
were, they grew proud of their 
thirteen Foxes, who spoke such 
good Goose, while they were not 


52 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


(silly birds !) at all proud of Red- 
legs. So he, poor fellow, was set 
to work on the Green, which he had 
to sweep twice a day with a long 
birch-broom. 

By-and-by Daddy Gander had to 
fight his old enemies the Ducks, so 
he went off in a great hurry. 

“ Fourlegs,” said he to the thir¬ 
teen, as he was on the point of 
leaving, “ I’ll make you all com¬ 
modores, that you may not forget 
to watch over the Creese I am forced 
to leave behind.” 

“All right,” said Sharpnose; “if 
we are commodores, we may do as 
we like, so let us make haste, and 


THE FOOLISH FOX 53 



eat up all the Geese before old 
Daddy comes back again/’ 

To work they went, and ate up 
all the Geese—all but one very old 
one. 

But when Daddy Gander had 
well beaten the Ducks home he 
came, and behold ! not a Goose 





54 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


was left to greet him except the 
one very old one. 

“Come, come,” said he; “no 
Fburlegs but a Fox could have 
eaten so many Geese. Commo¬ 
dores, what do you speak?” 

“Goose,” replied the thirteen 
commodores promptly. 

“Well, and what do you speak, 
sweeper?” he said to Redlegs. 

“ I speak Fox,” answered he. 

“Ah! so you told me before. I 
ought to have looked after you. 
Captains and generals, blow him 
with the bellows that blows the 
wind !” 


CHAPTER V 


THE KETTLE WHERE THE MUD IS 
BOILED 

W HEN the Geese had blown 
him with all the winds 
they could find handy, 
they left him lying half dead on 
the Green. And there he might 
have lain till to-day, if the sound 
of his brothers’ voices had not 
brought him round a little. But 
hearing that they were off again 
to see some more of the world, 
he caught hold of the last one’s 


55 


56 THE FOOLISH FOX 

bushy tail, and away he hobbled 
with them. 

“ Come along,” cried Sharpnose. 
“Let us go and catch Graynose 
the Wolf in a trap, and then we 
shall have his fine house to live 
in.” 

On they plodded, all the day, in 
the mud and in the mire. The 
thicker the mud the harder they 
plodded on, till at last they found 

The kettle where the mud is boiled\ 

and there by the side stood the 
Wolf’s fine house, and Graynose 
himself looking out of the win¬ 
dow. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


57 



“You have been in the mud. 
Where do you come from ?” 

“ From the other end of the 
world where the Lambs are laid,” 
replied Sharpnose, and the twelve 
echoed what he said, as usual ; but 
Redlegs, he said nothing. 








58 THE FOOLISH FOX 


“What song can you sing?” 
asked Gray nose the Wolf. 

“ Ba—a—aa !” sang Sharpnose 
and the twelve after him. 

“Aha! but what do you sing?” 
the Wolf called out to Redlegs. 

“ Bow—ow—ow!” barked Red- 
legs as loudly as he could. 

“ I see, I see. We must look 
sharp after you,” said the Wolf; 
and then, turning to the others, 
“Wait while I put on my boots, 
and I will come and hear you.” 

You may be pretty sure he went 
off in a hurry to find his best boots, 
for if there was one song that the 
Wolf liked better than another it 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


59 



“ GRAYNOSE LOOKING OUT OF THE WINDOW 



















6o 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


was the cheerful ditty of “ Ba-a- 
aa.” 

But while he was putting his 
boots on, what did the thirteen 
Foxes do but dig a deep pit out¬ 
side the threshold of the door ? So 
that when Gray nose came out in a 
bustle to hear them sing down he 
went, head foremost, into the hole, 
and so they caught him nicely. 

Well, after this they had Gray- 
nose the Wolf’s fine house all to 
themselves, and lived in it quite 
merrily. They ate and drank of 
his best, they laughed at his 
groans, they sang to him anything 
but ‘‘Ba-a-aa,” and, what teased 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


6 1 



“HEAD FOREMOST, INTO THE HOLE" 
























62 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


him most of all, they wore his 
shiny boots until they were quite 
down at heel; but all the Wolf 
could do was to cry, “Oh, dear! 
here I am, all alone in this pit, 
with no one near to help me.” 
Poor fellow! He would have died 
of hunger if it had not been for 
Redlegs, who every day brought 
him all the bones he could spare 
out of his own plate. 

But one fine afternoon, when the 
sun shone brightly, the thirteen 
Foxes went out for a walk, and 
then the cunning Wolf, who had 
heard them as they passed over 
the pit, after waiting till they were 


THE FOOLISH FOX 63 

out of hearing, called up to Red- 
legs: 

“Old Fox,” cried he, “pray 
help me up for a minute to stretch 
my legs. I can easily enough slip 
down again before your brothers 
come back." 

“Well, then, jump up,” said the 
Fox, who thought everyone spoke 
truth but the Foxes, and up he 
lifted him. 

“ Gr-r-r ! ” growled Graynose, as 
soon as he found himself at lib¬ 
erty. Gr-r-r—rr!” and flew at poor 
Redlegs’ throat. “ Gr-r-r-ow ! ” 
howled he. “You are the fellow 
that barks, I see. He that barks 


64 THE FOOLISH FOX 

may bite. I shall pull all your 
teeth out.” 

So he pulled all the poor blind 
Fox’s teeth out, and, after that, not 
knowing any better use for him, 
threw him head over heels into 

The kettle where the mud is boiled. 

And I must tell you it was lucky 
for the thirteen that the Wolf 
was so busy, for just then they 
came in sight; but, finding how 
matters stood, they never waited 
to help poor Redlegs, but started 
off on a run as fast as their lees 
would carry them. 


CHAPTER VI 


EYES, EARS, TEETH, ANI) TAIL 


H, dear! oh, dear!” groaned 



V-/ this knocked-about Fox, as 
he scrambled through a small hole 
in the bottom of the mud kettle. 
“Whatever shall I do? I have lost 
my eyes, my ears, my teeth, and 
my tail. Oh, if I could but find a 
pair of eyes to see a bit with! ” 

But as he could not feel any 
such things were lying about, he 
thought that he had but one thing 
left to do, and that was to dig a 


5—The Foolish Fox 


66 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


deep hole in the ground at once, 
and cover himself quietly. He 
found it a hard matter to dig at 
all, he was so bruised and sore ; 
but at last, after trying many times 
in vain, he managed to dig a deep 
hole. When he had finished it he 

Crawled into it. 

He crawled and crawled, and 
crawled right down to the bottom, 
and whom should he run against 
there but Digger the Mole ? 

“Thank you kindly for your 
help,” said the Mole. “ I was so 
knocked up with my week’s work 
that I do not know how I should 


THE FOOLISH FOX 67 



have ever dug up to the grass 
again. What have you lost that 
you dig down ?” 

“ I have lost my eyes,” moaned 
Redlegs. 

“What is the use of eyes?” 
asked Digger the Mole. “ I found 
a beautiful pair the other day, but 






68 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


I never use them. You may have 
them, if you like.” 

“You are very good,” said the 
poor Fox. “Thank you.” 

Redlegs soon put his eyes in, 
and, bidding the tired Mole “Good¬ 
night,” scrambled up the hole and 
went on his way merrily. 

But after a while, when he came 
past Duck Lake, what should he 
see but that fat old dame, Mrs. 
Duck, catching poor little Jack 
Frog ? The great coward of a 
Duck soon swam away when she 
saw the Fox coming, and so left 
poor little Jack behind. 

“ Thank you kindly for your 


THE FOOLISH FOX 69 


help,” croaked the Frog; “you 
were only just in time. But what 
have you lost that you walk on 
dry land ?” 

“ I’ve lost my tail,” cried Red- 
legs., 

“What can be the use of tails?” 
asked Jack Frog. “ I found a beau¬ 
tiful bushy tail only the other day ; 
but do you think that I have ever 
tried to wear it? I’ll give it to 
you, if you like to have it.” 

“Thank you,” said Redlegs, po¬ 
litely, and he soon stuck his tail 
on, you may be sure, and, bidding 
JackFrog “ Good-day,” off he went 
again. Well he walked on till the 


70 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


sun rose, and then he began to feel 
very warm, so as he could not find 
anything better than some fine 
prickly thistles that grew by the 
roadside, he used them as a fan, 
and a very fine one it made him, 
I assure you. 

Suddenly a great noise arose, 
and, turning a sharp corner, whom 
should he meet but Ned the 
Donkey ? 

“Hee-haw!” shrieked the Donkey. 
“ Oh! what would I give for a 
thistle !” 

“ Here are plenty of thistles for 
you, if that is all you want,” said 
Redlegs, giving him some. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


71 


“Thank you kindly,” said the 
Donkey, munching them up. “ But, 
I say, what have you lost that you 
carry thistles about without eating 
them ?” 

“ I have lost my ears,” groaned 
the Fox, as he looked at the 
Donkey’s fine pair. 

“ What can be the use of ears ?” 
asked the Donkey. “I wish to 
goodness I had none. Here, I will 
give you mine with great pleasure, 
if you like to put them on.” 

“You are very good,” said Red- 
legs in great joy. “Thank you.” 
And he soon buckled his ears on, 
as you may very well suppose. 


72 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


On he went again, till in the af¬ 
ternoon he drew near the Dog’s 
house, and what do you think he 
came upon then ? Why, nothing 
less than Old Keeper the Dog, 
worrying Tabby the Cat. No 
sooner did the Dog set eyes on the 
Fox’s magnificent pair of ears, than 
they so startled him that he set up 
the most dismal howl you ever 
heard, and ran straight away home 
without stopping, 

“Thank you kindly,” said Tabby 
the Cat, when she had become her¬ 
self a little, and was able to speak. 
“What have you lost that you 
walk along with your mouth open ?” 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


73 



for Redlegs had certainly opened 
his mouth. 

“ 1 have lost my teeth,” he whis¬ 
pered. 

“ Have you ?” Ah ! that is a 
bad job,” returned the Cat, shaking 
her head. “ I found a fine set the 
other day. They are too large for 







74 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


me, so I suppose they must be too 
large for you. You can try them 
if you like, though.” 

“ Thank you,” said the Fox, “ I 
will.” 

And so it happened that they 
fitted exactly. So on he went 
again, restored—eyes, ears, tail, 
and teeth, singing to himself, and 
as happy as a prince. 


CHAPTER VII 


THE DISGRACE TO THE FOXES 

G OOD luck had come at once, 
come almost without ask¬ 
ing. He had got his eyes 
and his ears, his teeth and his long 
bushy tail ; and he was so proud of 
his good looks that off he started 
in search of his thirteen brothers. 

“ I wonder where they have got 
to?” said he to himself. 

But he did not wonder very long, 
for just then, as he looked about 
him, they all came round the corner. 


75 


;6 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


They hardly knew him at first, he 
looked so well and strong. 

“Where are you off to ?” he 
asked. 

They told him they were just go¬ 
ing back to the Lion, for they had 
heard that his Wise Counsellor 
was dead, and that the old King 
was in a dreadful pucker about it. 

“ He cannot find anyone wise 
enough for Prime Minister,” said 
Sharpnose, “so, as Foxes are the 
wisest Fourlegs in all the world, 
we are going to try our luck there 
again.” 

“Then,” continued Redlegs, “I 
will go with you.” 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


77 


“ But no ; they would not hear 
of such a thing. 

“You are the Foolish Fox, you 
know,” said they, “and had better 
stop behind where you are.” 

“ No, indeed,” said Redlegs, 
who had made up his mind. “Go 
with you I will ; and, as you will 
not take me, I shall follow on be¬ 
hind.” 

So he followed on behind these 
clever Foxes till they reached the 
Lion’s castle, and stood quietly on 
one side, waiting to hear what the 
Lion would say. The old Lion, 
who had been on the look-out for 
counselors ever since his Prime 


78 THE FOOLISH FOX 


Minister died, came out with his 
hands folded behind him, very glad 
to see the Foxes back again. 

“They may be wise enough for 
me, after all,” said he; yet he 
asked the first of the two ques¬ 
tions that only wise animals can 
answer. 

“Who are you ?” asked the Lion. 

“ I am the Wise Fox,” replied 
Sharpnose. 

“We are the Wise Foxes,” an¬ 
swered the twelve in a breath. 

“And pray who are you?” the 
Lion asked Redlegs. 

“They call me the Foolish 
Fox,” said he. 


\ 


THE FOOLISH FOX 79 


“ Then I think you will do for 
me,” chuckled the Old King to 
himself, for, being' so very wise 
himself, he knew that any Four- 
legs could call himself clever. 
“ Perhaps he is the wise one, after 
all.” 

But, to make sure, he asked 
them the second question. 

“ What have you got ?” 

“ Bags of gold !” cried Sharp- 
nose, who knew how fond the Lion 
was of his riches. 

“ Bags of gold!” echoed the 
twelve, all in a breath. 

“And you?” he asked of Red- 
legs. “ Come, what have you got ?” 


8o 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


“Nothing,” replied the Fox, in 
a low voice ; “I am very poor.” 

“You’ll do for me!” roared the 
Lion, embracing the Fox. “ Red- 
legs, you are the Wise Fox, after 
all. “Here!" he cried. “Give 
this good Fox thirteen gold mines, 
and dress him in the diamond robe 
of state. Behold my Wise Coun¬ 
selor !” 

As everyone will guess, Sharp- 
nose and the twelve were very 
angry at the good fortune of the 
Foolish Fox. Said they, wishing 
to tell a great story for the last: 

“We found Sheep for the Dog, 
Snow for the Bear, Feathers for 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


8 t 



“ ‘you’ll do for me’ 


ii — The J 'oolish /'ox 















82 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


the Goose, and even then we built 
a brand-new house for the Wolf, 
while this foolish fellow, who lost 
his eyes and his ears, his teeth and 
his tail, has only got them back 
again, after all.” 

“Well, well,” said Redlegs, the 
Wise Counselor, “I do not wish 
you any harm. I scarcely know 
what to do with my gold mines. 
Pray take them off my hands; 
there will be just one apiece for 
you.” 

“ And now w t are certain of 
it,” whispered the thirteen alto¬ 
gether, as they went off in a huff 
to their gold mines. “We have 


THE FOOLISH FOX 83 


put up with this Counselor Red- 
legs as long as we possibly could. 
Now we disown him forever. He 
is a disgrace to the Foxes.” 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE KING OF FOURLEGS 
S long as the old Lion lived— 



/~V and he reached a good age 
—never once had he cause to re¬ 
gret his choice of a counselor, for, 
under Redlegs’s advice, the Land of 
Fourlegs grew richer and stronger 
and happier every year. No one 
could well say why, but— 

The Bear ground more snow 
than he knew what to do with. 

The Wolf built seven fine houses, 
and bought a hundred pairs of boots. 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


85 


The Dog bred more Sheep than 
he cared to sell. 

The Donkey found Thistles. 

The Cat caught Mice. 

The Mole grew fatter and fatter. 

Even the Frog kept clear of the 
terrible Duck, while both Duck and 
Goose paid no end of tribute to the 
King. He who was fond of his 
wealth saw his money-box so full 
of gold at last, that he had to melt 
some of it down into bars, and 
stack it up in the back yard. 

Of course these pleasant times 
could not last forever, and sad to 
say, one morning, very early, the 
good old Lion died, but it was not 


86 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


until he was very, very old indeed, 
and feeble, and nearly blind. 

All Fourlegs mourned for the 
good old King, who had reigned 
over them so long, and they buried 
him in right royal state, before they 
even thought about getting another 
ruler. 

But after their tears were in some 
sort dry, they found that a king¬ 
dom must have a king, so all 
Fourlegs set to work choosing 
a new one, when they found that 
between their love for the old Lion 
and their love for themselves they 
could not make up their minds at 
all. 


TIIE 


FOOLISH FOX 


87 








































88 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


Day after day they met, but noth¬ 
ing came of that. 

Night after night they met, but 
with no better luck. 

All this time when days and 
nights went on, the great land of 
Fourlegs was'falling into sixes and 
sevens. The golden stack had 
gone from out of the back yard. 
The Bear ground up all his snow, 
and was taking to animal food. 
The Wolf had burned down his 
houses in a rage at having worn out 
his hundred pairs of boots. The 
Dog was thinking about eating his 
own Sheep, and, indeed, there was 
a terrible to-do. The Mole grew 


THE FOOLISH FOX 89 


thin. The Duck gobbled up Jack 
Frog ; the Donkey could not find 
any thistles. What was to be done 
for a king ? 

“For my part,” said Bruin the 
Bear, “ I am not very wise myself, 
but I shall vote for a Fox.” 

“ I don’t know,” growled Gray- 
nose the Wolf. “ Foxes are wise 
enough sometimes, I allow, but 
they have so many followers, there 
is no trusting them.” 

“Well,, come now,” argued 
Keeper the Dog; “if that is all, 
we can soon settle it. Look at 
Redlegs the Wise Counselor— 
there is a Fox without a follower 


90 


THE FOOLISH FOX 


for you : his thirteen brothers have 
disowned him long ago." 

And when they put it to the vote, 
sure enough, Redlegs was elected. 
A better monarch they could not 
have chosen, for if he was wise as 
a Counselor, he was even wiser 
as a King. Fourlegs again grew 
cheerful, and no animals dared to 
lift their voices against good King 
Redlegs—none, indeed, but his 
brothers; and when they had dug 
up all the gold out of their mines, 
and had spent it into the bargain, 
after they had worn out all their 
clothes, and been sent to prison 
for stealing some more, they con- 


THE 


FOOLISH FOX 


9 


























92 THE FOOLISH FOX 

soled themselves in all their rags 
by abusing their royal brother. 
Said Sharpnose : 

“Well, King Redlegs may per¬ 
haps have been the Wise Coun¬ 
selor, but he certainly was also 
the Foolish Fox. 


THE END. 










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